€2 million investment for Lucan village

ArthurG

Interesting......

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/council-aims-to-turn-lucan-into-destination-town-with-2m-project-1.4480201?mode=amp

ShyMets

ArthurG wrote: »

Interesting......

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/council-aims-to-turn-lucan-into-destination-town-with-2m-project-1.4480201?mode=amp

Lucan village is very picturesque. But from a tourists point of view there's not a whole lot there.

Be interesting to see what they come up with

average_runner

ShyMets wrote: »

Lucan village is very picturesque. But from a tourists point of view there's not a whole lot there.

Be interesting to see what they come up with

A proper greenway linking up the waterways would get alot of cyclists and runners. People would stop in the village for coffee etc. Village inaccessible by bike with kids at the moment

ArthurG

I've lived in the village for almost 15 years now and the biggest thing i can't understand is the lack of decent restaurants. When you consider the increasing population in the area (all those new higher end estates up near Adamstown), you'd think there would be demand. Compared to Leixlip or Maynooth its really underserved. You get the odd gem like Coffee Works (opening their 3rd place now, best of luck to them), but that's the exception. I'd really hope this leads to better facilities, and yes better cycling and walking infrastructure.

I wonder if this was connected in any way to the traffic measurement that was going on in the village a few months back - there were those cables laid across all the roads which i presume measure numbers of cars in and out.

average_runner

ArthurG wrote: »

I've lived in the village for almost 15 years now and the biggest thing i can't understand is the lack of decent restaurants. When you consider the increasing population in the area (all those new higher end estates up near Adamstown), you'd think there would be demand. Compared to Leixlip or Maynooth its really underserved. You get the odd gem like Coffee Works (opening their 3rd place now, best of luck to them), but that's the exception. I'd really hope this leads to better facilities, and yes better cycling and walking infrastructure.

I wonder if this was connected in any way to the traffic measurement that was going on in the village a few months back - there were those cables laid across all the roads which i presume measure numbers of cars in and out.

I say the main reason for not many good restaurants, is because the village is a traffic nightmare. During the festival the village is great, we can walk along the village in peace and quiet.


2m won't change much though, as not that much in money terms.


First thing i would do is close off the village main street during certain hours, maybe the weekend and have a summer market there etc

bogmanfan

average_runner wrote: »

First thing i would do is close off the village main street during certain hours, maybe the weekend and have a summer market there etc

I've always thought that would be a great idea. You could easily enough close the section from Numero 6/Coffee Works to the Ulster Bank, still leaving access to Laraghcon.

In terms of restaurants, it's a strange one. The Numero 6 site has changed hands several times, so seems nobody is making it work. I really rate both Kasturi and Delhi Darbar for Indian, but there is no Asian or Italian restaurant in the village.

I think part of the reason is that most of the development in Lucan is a long way from the village itself. If you look at Lucan on a map, the village itself is in a corner of the area, not the middle. I guess the Italian Embassy and Lucan Demesne meant that there was no development on that side of the village. I'm only 5 minutes walk from the village, but friends of mine who also live in Lucan are nearly an hour's walk away, so would rarely come down for food. If you're getting a bus/taxi, might as well go as far as the city.

average_runner

bogmanfan wrote: »

I've always thought that would be a great idea. You could easily enough close the section from Numero 6/Coffee Works to the Ulster Bank, still leaving access to Laraghcon.

In terms of restaurants, it's a strange one. The Numero 6 site has changed hands several times, so seems nobody is making it work. I really rate both Kasturi and Delhi Darbar for Indian, but there is no Asian or Italian restaurant in the village.

I think part of the reason is that most of the development in Lucan is a long way from the village itself. If you look at Lucan on a map, the village itself is in a corner of the area, not the middle. I guess the Italian Embassy and Lucan Demesne meant that there was no development on that side of the village. I'm only 5 minutes walk from the village, but friends of mine who also live in Lucan are nearly an hour's walk away, so would rarely come down for food. If you're getting a bus/taxi, might as well go as far as the city.

Its just easier to get take away from those two places!!


We go to Maynooth for food. Just higher quality of food there.

ArthurG

average_runner wrote: »

We go to Maynooth for food. Just higher quality of food there.

Not at the moment of course.....

average_runner

ArthurG wrote: »

Not at the moment of course.....

How i miss a meal in Avenue and then some whiskey in the bar afterwards :mad:

alias no.9

bogmanfan wrote: »

I've always thought that would be a great idea. You could easily enough close the section from Numero 6/Coffee Works to the Ulster Bank, still leaving access to Laraghcon.

In terms of restaurants, it's a strange one. The Numero 6 site has changed hands several times, so seems nobody is making it work. I really rate both Kasturi and Delhi Darbar for Indian, but there is no Asian or Italian restaurant in the village.

I think part of the reason is that most of the development in Lucan is a long way from the village itself. If you look at Lucan on a map, the village itself is in a corner of the area, not the middle. I guess the Italian Embassy and Lucan Demesne meant that there was no development on that side of the village. I'm only 5 minutes walk from the village, but friends of mine who also live in Lucan are nearly an hour's walk away, so would rarely come down for food. If you're getting a bus/taxi, might as well go as far as the city.

The N4 is impermeable to pedestrians alright but not even the furthest flung corners of Earlsfort or Foxborough are an hours walk from the village, people are jusy lazy.

Part of the problem with restraunts in the village is the lack of supermarkets or really any other high footfall retail in the village.

The other big problem is the lack of a bus service connecting the village with its hinterland. The 239 kind of does that job but its not frequent enough and doesn't even run on Sundays.

r93kaey5p2izun

alias no.9 wrote: »

The N4 is impermeable to pedestrians alright but not even the furthest flung corners of Earlsfort or Foxborough are an hours walk from the village, people are jusy lazy.

Part of the problem with restraunts in the village is the lack of supermarkets or really any other high footfall retail in the village.

The other big problem is the lack of a bus service connecting the village with its hinterland. The 239 kind of does that job but its not frequent enough and doesn't even run on Sundays.

239 runs on a Sunday, but yes, not frequent or reliable enough. It may not be an hour but it certainly is a good 40-45 minutes to the village from parts of Foxborough, Earlsfort, Castle Gate. You don't have to be lazy to not be willing to walk 40 minutes there and back for a meal out. The poster is right, Lucan being so spread out from the village is a major reason the village is not successfully developed.

alias no.9

Cassidy Unsightly Harpoon wrote: »

239 runs on a Sunday, but yes, not frequent or reliable enough. It may not be an hour but it certainly is a good 40-45 minutes to the village from parts of Foxborough, Earlsfort, Castle Gate. You don't have to be lazy to not be willing to walk 40 minutes there and back for a meal out. The poster is right, Lucan being so spread out from the village is a major reason the village is not successfully developed.

The extremes are about 45 minutes walk but there's an awful lot in between there and the village, more than enough within a 20 minute walk for the village to be more of a focal point than it is.

unkel

alias no.9 wrote: »

not even the furthest flung corners of Earlsfort or Foxborough are an hours walk from the village, people are jusy lazy.

I dunno about you but I can't see my wife walking 45 minutes into the village on her heels for a Saturday night out to go for a meal and then walk 45 minutes back

As the other poster said, might as well go into town...

average_runner

alias no.9 wrote: »

The extremes are about 45 minutes walk but there's an awful lot in between there and the village, more than enough within a 20 minute walk for the village to be much more of a focal point than it is.

For us its probably a 30 min walk down a bad footpath on the way into the village. If i really wanted I get a taxi but the village offers nothing really.



Village is just in a bad location unless you live close to it.

alias no.9

unkel wrote: »

I dunno about you but I can't see my wife walking 45 minutes into the village on her heels for a Saturday night out to go for a meal and then walk 45 minutes back

As the other poster said, might as well go into town...

The point is unless you're at the extreme fringes, it's not a 45 minute walk and definitely not the nearly 1 hour walk originally quoted.

If you're going to to bring high heels into it, a 10 minute walk is not even feasible.

I stand by my original point, the two biggest factors working against the village are the lack of any high footfall retail and the lack of bus connectivity between the village and its hinterland, it's easier to go town because the bus goes to town.

ArthurG

Seems things are moving along:

https://www.sdcc.ie/en/news/canal-loop-urban-greenway1.html

Seth Brundle

There's a lot in that.
I note the before and after images with the route going through residential estates where cars ae parked haphazardly.
How will people view the removing of the view of Lucan Bridge from a new cycling bridge?

unkel

Seth Brundle wrote: »

There's a lot in that.
I note the before and after images with the route going through residential estates where cars ae parked haphazardly.
How will people view the removing of the view of Lucan Bridge from a new cycling bridge?

Where do you see all that detail, I just get a one page PDF file when I click on the link.

ArthurG

unkel wrote: »

Where do you see all that detail, I just get a one page PDF file when I click on the link.

It doesn't work very well on a phone - use a computer. Click on the google maps style arrow on the floor to move to main area, and then use your mouse to pan around and click on 10 / 11 different sections.

Seth Brundle

https://canalloop.virtualeventspace.io/

ArthurG

Seth Brundle wrote: »

There's a lot in that.
I note the before and after images with the route going through residential estates where cars ae parked haphazardly.
How will people view the removing of the view of Lucan Bridge from a new cycling bridge?

The bridge will be contentious I'd say, but overall it looks pretty impressive.

hmmm

Looks good, great to see an improvement to the link with the village. I can't see anyone however taking the right turn after the motorway bridge and going through a maze of housing estates when they can just carry on straight on a more direct route. It seems to be adding unnecessary complexity.

Seth Brundle

hmmm wrote: »

I can't see anyone however taking the right turn after the motorway bridge and going through a maze of housing estates when they can just carry on straight on a more direct route. It seems to be adding unnecessary complexity.

It does but I guess families and unconfident people will follow the designated route. They won't have to deal with the traffic in the village then.

What is the gradient like heading southbound through Sarsfield Pk, Lucan Heights & Beech Pk? I assume that it would be easier for an unfit person to cycle than somewhere closer to the Adamstown Rd hill (although I think the green areas along that route contain most of the hilly bits)

RunDMC

The part in Sarsfield Park goes along parallel to the road so the gradient is managed; the entrance to Lucan Heights is tougher.

The bigger problem will be the residents of Cherbury Park Road, Beech Park and Sarsfield Park. The'll kill it stone dead long before it gets to Lucan Bridge, and I'm not sure I wouldn't do the same in their situation despite being an avid cyclist.

It's also a "road to nowhere"; there are no plans for anything on the Fingal side.

R

ctrl-alt-delete

I think the bridge concept looks dreadful, and is on the worst side, the views from the weir will be ruined.

r93kaey5p2izun

I think the alteration of the bridge at the weir looks awful.

Why do they need the new bridge in Griffen Valley Park? It's just meters from the existing bridge.

average_runner

Looks an interesting running route for me

emo72

ArthurG wrote: »

The bridge will be contentious I'd say, but overall it looks pretty impressive.

Interesting. Look what they did with the bridge in chapelizod. I think that one looks amazing now, and it's great to just stand there and look up the river. It's a real improvement to that village.

RunDMC

I was on a call with SDCC last night about the new greenway route. There was a lot of questions about the bridge. The current preferred option is to have a separate pedestrian/cycle bridge 5 metres upstream from the existing bridge which is a protected structure. I'm not sure how that's going to fit in, but I suspect there will be a lot of opposition.

Anyway, check out the details at

https://canalloop.virtualeventspace.io/

R

unkel

Perhaps the new cycle bridge upstream can be at a slightly lower height? That way the view from the existing bridge is not ruined.

FinnC

The route through the housing estates looks odd to me. Are they just going to paint signs on the road and call it a cycle route? You’ll still be sharing the road with whatever traffic will be using it.

Seth Brundle

FinnC wrote: »

The route through the housing estates looks odd to me. Are they just going to paint signs on the road and call it a cycle route? You’ll still be sharing the road with whatever traffic will be using it.

In general cycling infrastructure is designed by people who don't cycle and have little knowledge on the subject. That's why most of what has been developed to date is of no use.
Even the images in the SDCC plans show a lack of parking enforcement. This is unlikely to change which makes those sections of the route even more hazardous.
The baseline check the designers should be doing is to see if it is safe for their kids. If not, then it isn't good enough.

RunDMC

unkel wrote: »

Perhaps the new cycle bridge upstream can be at a slightly lower height? That way the view from the existing bridge is not ruined.

I think it was more the view of the bridge from down beside the river, rather than the view from the bridge.

R

Capt'n Midnight

unkel wrote: »

Where do you see all that detail, I just get a one page PDF file when I click on the link.

https://canalloop.virtualeventspace.io/files/VCR_Contents3.pdf this one has 11 pages.

Capt'n Midnight

Seth Brundle wrote: »

In general cycling infrastructure is designed by people who don't cycle and have little knowledge on the subject. That's why most of what has been developed to date is of no use.
Even the images in the SDCC plans show a lack of parking enforcement. This is unlikely to change which makes those sections of the route even more hazardous.
The baseline check the designers should be doing is to see if it is safe for their kids. If not, then it isn't good enough.

Those speed ramps would put me off.

And what will the steep bit from Lucan Heights , St Joseph's to Sarsfield Park look like ?

alias no.9

If the usability of the route is on a par with that virtual event space, it'll be a a massive waste of money. The rat run through the estates will not be a hit with cyclists or residents.

When you cross north of the N4, if there could be a route across the land being prepared for the cemetery extension into vessey park onto the adamstown road, it'd still leave a bit of on road to Courtney's but it'd make for a nicer route overall, maybe they could eek out some space with a boardwalk over the river on some of that stretch, it could help. This would deliver the cyclists through the village to create some trade for the local businesses.

Seth Brundle

As someone who now cycles quite a bit, I'd wonder who it is being developed for.
I sat listening to a Kildare Co Co meeting this morning and during a discussion of a potential cycle route which may have suited commuters the topic of tourists came up. To me, tourism becomes a justification for so many cycling projects and they lose focus from what I think is the original intent, which is to encourage some drivers to make an alternative commuting choice. Maybe the Lucan Canal Loop is purely for tourism but given that the vast majority of people travelling along the Grand Canal to Adamstown are commuters so the question be who is it for?
Personally, I like the idea but I don't see myself using it.

alias no.9

Not so much who its being developed for but who it's being developed by...

The people who brought you this...

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xGGyUE47pJcz4xa66

average_runner

Seth Brundle wrote: »

As someone who now cycles quite a bit, I'd wonder who it is being developed for.
I sat listening to a Kildare Co Co meeting this morning and during a discussion of a potential cycle route which may have suited commuters the topic of tourists came up. To me, tourism becomes a justification for so many cycling projects and they lose focus from what I think is the original intent, which is to encourage some drivers to make an alternative commuting choice. Maybe the Lucan Canal Loop is purely for tourism but given that the vast majority of people travelling along the Grand Canal to Adamstown are commuters so the question be who is it for?
Personally, I like the idea but I don't see myself using it.

I think it's more for the local area. Links alot of lucan up and gives the locals a good cycling/running loop.

The fact it can link up to grange castle business park and in around that area gives a great loop.

Need to link lucan and celbridge on the canal next for the locals

stoneill

Have they considered using the route up Lock Road to lower entrance to Vesey park, through the park and new cycle patch through to existing footbridge, and away through Griffeen Valley park. Village to canal without having to go through any housing estates.

Heroditas

People in Lucan Heights, Beech Park and Cherbury are going nuts over this. They spent ages trying to make the area as safe as possible but putting a designated cycleway through the estates means a lot of the kissing gates to deter motorbikes and scramblers may be removed.
Difficult enough to come up with a better alternative option though because the other option would have been to come down past the cemetery and then into the village but the last stretch of that gradient is lethal.
I'm all for progress but as someone who lives in the area, I'm not sure how well it'll work or, more importantly, how utilized it'll be.
Lucan isn't exactly a hotbed of tourism.
I'd be more in favour of closing off the triangle in the village for the weekends and designated times during the day to make it more accessible to locals rather than having it snarled up with traffic jams

average_runner

Heroditas wrote: »

People in Lucan Heights, Beech Park and Cherbury are going nuts over this. They spent ages trying to make the area as safe as possible but putting a designated cycleway through the estates means a lot of the kissing gates to deter motorbikes and scramblers may be removed.
Difficult enough to come up with a better alternative option though because the other option would have been to come down past the cemetery and then into the village but the last stretch of that gradient is lethal.
I'm all for progress but as someone who lives in the area, I'm not sure how well it'll work or, more importantly, how utilized it'll be.
Lucan isn't exactly a hotbed of tourism.
I'd be more in favour of closing off the triangle in the village for the weekends and designated times during the day to make it more accessible to locals rather than having it snarled up with traffic jams

It be more so for the locals. Lucan is full of cyclists and this provide safe access to the village which we don't have. Be a great running route also.


Village should be closed off at certain times for sure

tomred1

stoneill wrote: »

Have they considered using the route up Lock Road to lower entrance to Vesey park, through the park and new cycle patch through to existing footbridge, and away through Griffeen Valley park. Village to canal without having to go through any housing estates.

This is a great idea, if the CPO some of the land that the new cemetery will use, it would link up well.